Iowa Fertilizer Company Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

While the Iowa economy is multi-faceted, there is no denying the importance of the agricultural sector. In fact, Iowa is a national and global leader in agriculture and ranks number one in the nation in the production of hogs, corn, eggs, and soybeans. Moreover, the state ranks in the top five in the nation for its number of farms, cattle on feed, and total value of ag exports. As such, Iowa was the perfect home for a new state-of-the-art fertilizer facility in 2012.

The Iowa Fertilizer Company (IFCo, parent company OCI NV) in Wever, Iowa was the first world scale greenfield nitrogen fertilizer company built in the United States in 25 years. Over the course of six years, LS2group worked with IFCo on local community outreach, communications, media relations, marketing, and legislative and regulatory issues.

Upon completion of the plant, LS2group planned and executed a successful grand opening ceremony. Our teams coordinated with offices of elected officials for their participation, invited local officials and leaders to a lunch, transported the lunch attendees to the construction site, created an event space on the construction site, and battled through torrential downpours the morning of the event to ensure success. By the time the celebration was underway, the sun came through and attendees were treated with a first-class ceremony.

The event attracted more than 250 total attendees, and 25 media outlets posted several dozen high-profile stories on the event, including a front-page story in the Des Moines Register. Attendee stakeholders included agricultural groups, economic development organizations, elected officials, policymakers, and regulators.

A wide range of academic, public health, and public safety organizations in southeast Iowa were also on hand.